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It's true, this E3 didn't have any real captivating surprises. I think we just have to pick our battles though, because this fall and holiday are going to be awesome for gaming. I'm incredibly excited for Skyrim, not to mention all the other amazing titles (albeit sequels) to look forward to. Good Soapbox!

I don't know how often your told but your opinions and views of video gaming and the business aspect are top notch and I really appreciate them. The fact that you took the time to produce this despite apparent exhaustion inspires me. I especially appreciate the commentary on the lack of risk taking that has taken place as a result of the economic situation resulting in frequent releases with minor updates versus longer production cycles and major updates. The most anticipated titles being ones with longer than average production cycles.

I think you are just getting jaded by time and have been spoiled by seeing significant changes in the gaming industry ~every 5 years. Fact is that there are obvious diminishing returns at to how far gaming can evolve due to technical/financial constraints. The mystique and excitement brought by new hardware is going to get marginalized because of this; the new frontier is software, you just have to switch your mindset and focus on the new games (hint: they are hardly ever the focus of media spotlight because they are unknown and can t afford as big of production/marketing budgets, but they do exist).

Now, I know gaming news leaks killed the surprise, which is lame, but E3 still had a ton of great content (with surprises here and there, new pikmin announced, new super smash bros. announced, Vita $249, Vita cross game chat!!!, etc.), so cheer up the good games are coming and that s what E3 is really about!

The industry likes to put people into two categories, the hardcore (which my perception of the word hardcore has always implied a sort of ignorance or stubbornness) and the casual. If I were to generalize, to me that says the bastard on Halo that humps my face constantly would be the hardcore, and my little sister or grandparents would be the casual.

This has always annoyed me because the people that are passionate about art, design, fun, challenge, innovation, immersion, narrative, and so on, are left out in the dust. The emphasis should be on making a better overall gaming experience, an experience that encompasses all of those things in a way that is appropriate for the given game. This should be the goal, not to just appeal to the "hardcore" or the "casual".

Breaking down those boundaries in gaming, as well as the labels, and creating a better gameplay experience is exactly what Nintendo wants the Wii U to represent. Whether or not it creates a "better" gameplay experience is still up in the air, but I think we can all imagine the possibilities.

I think the Wii U is incredibly promising, creative, and innovative. I love what it represents and I hope the software backs it up. Immediately after the press conference I had already thought of over a dozen different game concepts that never came to mind before. And that is pretty awesome.

Adam, I felt just like you when I first saw the WiiU. I was mad, then I saw they were gonna have 3rd party games and I got excited. and then I saw your feedback from E3 and saw that the WiiU could only support 1 of the controllers so I got mad again at Nintendo... and Now, I'm confused... I really hope Nintendo can do this right. Make it compatible with more controllers...

Is this a problem with the gaming industry or a problem with E3? How quickly have we forgotten great new innovative games? Children of Eden, Allan Wake, Heavy Rain and LA Noire are all great innovative games. Also look at the strength of small independent titles like Limbo, Auditorium, IloMilo, Echochrome.I think there are great new games that taking chances coming out Catherine, Last Gaurdian, Papo & Yo and Journey. Sound Shapes looks new and cool. It s hard for these games to stand out against the Big Three and a huge blitz by all the monster titles all trying to outdo each other for media attention so they pick times away from E3 to showcase what they are doing.Finally in the world we live in today where everything is leaked, teased, exposed and conjectured to death do we even give the developers the chance to surprise us anymore? Sometimes I feel like we, the gamers, are like kids incessantly opening closets looking for Christmas presents. Of course, trying to find the answer is fun and we all love getting a peek but the consequence is that the surprise is gone.

I agree. This year was the first year where nothing really came out of nowhere to amaze me. Nothing really has since the original Infamous trailer a few years back. Sure I'm looking forward to Resistance 3 and Uncharted 3, but I know what I'm getting there. The Overstrike teaser was nice, but without gameplay, it didn't strike the chord it could have. Here's to hoping with all these threequels releasing next year can bring some new IPs.

Adam, I'm not as old as you (I'm 30), but I've been around long enough (since Sega Master System) that I think I understand the toll you're feeling.

I agree with everything you've said about the Wii and it setting the bar for a new wave of gaming, but it never really came to fruition for the core. And then here we are expecting something big from Nintendo and then them failing to really convey their vision to us.

It took me hours after the press conference to get clarity and confirmation that this was not a new handheld or Nintablet or just new Wii controller. That there was an actual console.

I'm not convinced yet, or rather I haven't stabilized my opinion yet, on whether I feel disappointed by Nintendo's new product, or if I'm feeling disappointed in their presentation of that product. I desperately wanted them to make me a believer and open my eyes to new possibilities, but that isn't what happened.

How come you say that there are no surprises, and that you dont know where the industry is going and yet you dissmis Nintendo's effort in bringing something different to the table? If it wasnt for Nintendo's courage in bringing these new ways of playing, then there would not be Playstation move, or kinect.

I do fear for Nintendo's future becoming another Sega or just sticking to Japanese market. Nintendo needs to be around, even if it is in the background.

Possible the best Soapbox ever. It is true that we have reached a platue of sorts in the gaming industry, and we need some fresh air to get things going again. I wish we would see some more risk taking from the big publishers, like EA did back a couple of years ago. Sure Dead Space was the only series that payed off, but it was nice to see these new IPs.

To start, like it seems most people have been saying, I agree with Adam. There was just no big wow factor at this year's E3. Despite how many games looked amazing, there was just nothing that stood out to bring a new life into the industry. As I thought about this, I came up with a theory that I am still not sure about myself, but is there an over saturation of great games out there? As in when there didn't used to be as many great games, were we more excited for each one.

Well, I mean there are some games I am quietly excited for a number of games, but I just feel like nothing really popped out at me this year at E3.

I want to believe that it's just an off-year, the recession is starting to hurt the game industry, etc. But I feel that if there were different constraints to work under over making these big, crazy blockbusters a little more creativity would start popping up.